Pacific National escalates coal dispute

Deadlocked pay talks covering rail workers who carry most of the coal in NSW are set to escalate after Pacific National threatened to cut the size of pay rises unless a deal is struck.

Pacific National has warned that its offer of annual pay rises of 4 per cent for about 800 workers in its NSW coal business will be reduced to 3 per cent if agreement is not reached by Thursday.

It has told employees the increases will be further cut, to 2.5 per cent, if a deal is not reached by the end of February, or if members of the Rail Tram and Bus Union take legally protected industrial action.

Workers in Pacific National’s NSW coal business have rejected a management offer of a three-year deal with annual increases of 4 per cent, and narrowly voted in favour of taking a range of industrial action.

Coalminers Xstrata and
Whitehaven Coal
have warned the union that industrial action would cause “significant harm" to their businesses and that prolonged strikes could force the suspension of mining.

The miners might take legal action to prevent any harm to their business, although legal observers said this would not be easy if the union fully complied with national workplace laws.

Xstrata has contracts for Pacific National to carry about 30 million tonnes a year of coal from its Hunter Valley mines for export from Newcastle, and from the Tahmour mine south-west of Sydney to Port Kembla. It fears industrial action could disrupt the operations of its own fleet of locomotives, which is operated by Freighter Australia and uses the same rail networks.

Union national secretary Bob Nanva said Xstrata and Whitehaven should redirect their energies towards encouraging Pacific National to return to the negotiating table.

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“The RTBU has been adamant that an agreement should be reached between the parties," he said. “Unfortunately, Pacific National has brought discussions to a standstill."

“All Pacific National customers should ask the company why it is behaving in this manner, rather than getting on with the job of moving coal."

Pacific National, which has been negotiating for more than 12 months, said it was committed to a “sustainable" pay rise.

“We have put forward what we consider to be a strong wage offer which is above current CPI and many other current industry wage claims," said an Asciano spokeswoman. “We have also offered consent arbitration as an option by which both parties can conclude the agreement."

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird said the state was monitoring developments, but it was a matter for the Commonwealth through the Fair Work Commission.